Pregnancy and Lactation: A Window of Opportunity to Improve Individual Health

Abstract

Human and animal studies indicate that obesity during pregnancy adversely impacts both maternal health and offspring phenotype predisposing them to chronic diseases later in life including obesity, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Effective interventions during human pregnancy and/or lactation are needed to improve both maternal and offspring health. This review addresses the relationship between adverse perinatal insults and its negative impact on offspring development and presents some maternal intervention studies such as diet modification, probiotic consumption, or maternal exercise, to prevent or alleviate the negative outcomes in both the mother and her child.

Development and Modification of a Mobile Health Program to Promote Postpartum Weight Loss in Women at Elevated Risk for Cardiometabolic Disease: Single-Arm Pilot Study

“…Previous studies demonstrate that pregnancy weight retained beyond 6 to 12 months postpartum is usually retained long term and is a powerful independent risk factor for future obesity [6]. Given the significance of postpartum weight retention, the postpartum year is considered a critical window of opportunity to make lifestyle changes to decrease future risk of obesity and chronic disease [7][8][9]. Lifestyle changes, including weight loss, smoking cessation, improved diet, and physical activity can decrease the risk of diabetes and CVD [10][11][12][13][14].…”

DHA Supplementation of Obese Rats throughout Pregnancy and Lactation Modifies Milk Composition and Anxiety Behavior of Offspring

“…As a result, there is an urgent need to develop strategies to control the negative effects of maternal obesity on offsprings' health. Some studies have addressed pregnancy and lactation as critical time windows for early prevention of negative offspring health outcomes programmed by MO [19,20,42,43]. The long-chain ω-3 PUFAs, EPA, and DHA are essential nutritional components, exerting important anti-inflammatory, hypolipidemic, and neurological effects, especially during development [44,45].…”

Swimming exercise before and during pregnancy: Promising preventive approach to impact offspring's health

“…These contradictory assignments to maternal corticosterone levels on the offspring's metabolic changes raise the need to unveil the exact contribution of this hormone. Other factors, such as redox status and epigenetic modifications, have been emerged as underlying mechanism responsible by maternal exercise effects on offspring's health (Harris et al, 2018; Rodriguez‐Gonzalez et al, 2018).…”

“…Some clinical investigations have addressed maternal exercise strategy to enhance metabolic health in the offspring (Labonte‐Lemoyne et al, 2017; Clapp, 1996; Clapp et al, 1998, 2000). Albeit human studies offer public health relevance, the results are associative (Rodriguez‐Gonzalez et al, 2018). In view of human studies, concerning metabolic programming and its effects on adult health are difficult, studies with animal models that aim to examine the effects of maternal exercise on offspring's health span and its ability to offsets detrimental effects of insults during adulthood are important.…”